Our New Home
by general yumi
Summary: Ace, Sabo, and Luffy are playing in the woods on Dawn Island when slave traders captured the three. They were soon bought by a noble and, after a year, are losing hope of ever being free from the life of slavery. Until a group of pirates appeared and freed them from their living nightmare. Whitebeard Pirates raising ASL. Warning: Contains curse words!
1. Chapter 1

**Warning: Curse words will be in this story!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece.**

 _Ace's P.O.V_

I stared at the cell bars in front of me. Wondering how everything turned wrong so fast. One moment Sabo, Luffy and I were playing and the next they're throwing us in a disgusting and damp cell. Luffy and Sabo, who were thrown in the same cell as me, were groaning as they sat up. "Are you okay Lu?" Sabo asked while I scanned the area for a way we could escape this shit hole.

In front of me was a cell door, to both of my sides were cell bars separating the different cells, and there was a dark long hallway to both sides. As far as I could see in the darkness, I could see different prison cells similar to the one we were in. I didn't see any other slaves but then again it was to dark to be sure. I sighed. "Ace are we going to be okay?" I turned to look at Luffy, with that stupid naive look on his face. "We'll be fine. This won't stop us," I said, easily lying to my brother, but seeing his face light up made me feel like shit. I knew Sabo was going to see through my lie though.

"We might as well get some rest it won't do us any good to be tired tomorrow," Sabo suggested quietly. "Okay," Luffy said as he looked at the dirt covered wood floor with tears gathering in his brown eyes. "What's with the sadness!? Its not like we're dead!" I exclaimed angrily, feeling even worse for being the reason we were captured in the first place.

"B-But what if we never leave here? What if they took our freedom forever!" Sabo and I shared a look of panic before Sabo hugged the distressed seven year old. I picked up Luffy's straw hat that had fallen to the floor and shoved it on his head. We settled down to sleep, hugging and whispering all kinds of fake promises to Luffy who was laying in the middle sandwiched between Sabo and I. The slow rocking of the ship, the sounds of waves crashing against it, and the slow steady breathing of my brothers lulled me to sleep.

 _The Next Day_

 _Sabo's P.O.V_

I woke up to the sound of someone yelling and banging in the distance. I sat up and found Luffy sitting on the floor with Ace standing next to him holding him in place. "Sabo, you're awake!" Luffy exclaimed quietly while Ace continued to stare down the left of the hallway. "What's wrong Ace?" I asked him, I could feel my worry building up again. "Hmm oh nothing I just thought I heard something." I nodded, but that didn't help ease any of the tension I felt building up.

After some time a man, with a vicious glint in his eyes appeared. He had a sword strapped to his side and was presumably a guard. "Looky here! Fresh meat!" The man said with a deep voice and laughter in his tone. "Screw you man!" Ace hissed with a glare that darkened his face making it look intimidating. The guard glared right back, "Ungrateful little twerp. Who the fuck do you think you're talking to?" The man threw two pieces of bread and three water bottles into our cell. "Make those bottles last," the man left with one last rude remark

After we finished the bread and wondering what to do a group of six guards came with a very large man that dressed like a noble. I nearly puked right there, as this _filthy man_ reminded me of my father and the life I left behind for my brothers.

They stopped in front of our cell before the noble started talking with an obnoxious voice. "So these are the filthy rats we picked up, I imagined them to be better, but I suppose they'll do." Ace's fists clenched and Luffy stepped back in fear. I tensed up ready to act if anything went wrong. "From this day onward you will be my slaves," the nobleman said directing it to the three of us.

As Ace was going to retort, with most likely something rude, I stopped him by grabbing his arm. Luffy was clutching his hat as he hid behind us. The noble turned to the guards with a smirk, "Brand them." "Yes sir!" The guards answered in unison. The guards then spilt up with half of them following the noble and the other half staying behind.

The guards entered the cell and grabbed us. We tried to run, but it was futile. We struggled, kicked, and screamed, but nothing we did seemed to work. The guards carried the three of us is if we were as light and as still as the swords at their sides.

They took us down the hallway and that's when we could see other slaves huddled in the corner of their cells, each with dead eyes as their hope was completely lost.

They took us to an empty room except for the fireplace with burning coal inside and a small table with a brander. I started fighting even harder and I saw Ace and Luffy following my example. "Which one first?" I heard the guard holding me down ask with a glare. "The straw hat wearing one. That should get the other two annoying brats to calm down," said the one holding Luffy. "NO!" I screamed out with Ace in unison.

 _Luffy's P.O.V_

I heard Ace and Sabo scream and I don't understand why. All I know is these guys are evil so I bit the guy that held me on the arm. He screamed and dropped me in a panic. I ran to the guy closest to me, which was the guy holding Ace, and I kicked him in the knee as hard as I could. Ace was able to get free and he went to go beat up the guy holding Sabo when the guy I bit grabbed me.

He brought me to the table and slammed me on it. He ripped my shoulder sleeve to show the top part of my right arm and grabbed the weird stick and stuck it in the fire. I heard fighting behind me but I forgot all of that when the mean guy grabbed the stick and pressed it tightly to my exposed skin.

The moment it touched my arm I could feel the horrible burning sensation.

 _IT REALLY REALLY HURTS!_

Through all of the pain I could faintly hear someone screaming it scared me especially when I realized it was me.

I WISH THE PAIN WOULD END!

 _Third Person P.O.V_

When Luffy started screaming Ace and Sabo immediately stopped struggling to look at their little brother. This gave the guards enough time to grab a good hold on the two. When the man branding Luffy finally stopped the man holding Ace stepped up for the freckled boy's turn.

After what felt like an eternity filled with agonizing pain the three brothers were returned to their cell. "Tomorrow you start working," said the man that Luffy had bitten earlier. The three brothers curled up next to each other, each praying in their own way that they would be saved. This was the start of their time in hell.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece.**

 **Warning: Contains curse words!**

 **Note: Not all chapter updates will come as quickly. My update schedule is wonky, check my profile for a better explanation.**

 **Luffy: 8 years old, Ace and Sabo: 11 years old**

 _Third Person P.O.V_

A year had gone by and each day brought more pain and suffering for the three. By this point in time Ace and Sabo had tried their best to continue giving hope to their little brother, but all three knew it was pointless. Ace and Sabo felt as though they had failed as their brother's protectors, which had only grown worse now that Luffy was sick, _again._

 _Ace's P.O.V_

"What the hell are we going to do!? If Luffy doesn't get better soon those bastards are going to throw him out to die." I hissed out quietly in hopes that Luffy wouldn't hear. "I don't know! This is the third time these past few weeks that Luffy has gotten sick," Sabo responded back with a panicked look in his blue eyes.

I clenched my fists feeling _utterly helpless_ in this situation. The whole idea of not being able to fight my way out of this situation was frustrating beyond belief. I wanted to scream, begging for any god to listen to my pleas and _save Luffy and Sabo._ I didn't care what happened to me, I didn't deserve to live anyways, but my brothers were unlike that. _I needed them to live._

"I-It's called malnutrition I think," Sabo said hesitantly breaking me out of my depressing mood. "What?" Sabo responded back nervously, "I read this somewhere and I think what Luffy - no - what _we_ are suffering is called malnutrition. I-It's when stuff begins to happen to you when you don't eat the right foods and stuff." I spoke through clenched teeth as hot fury coursed through my veins, "Well that's just fucking great. If I get the chance I'll kill these assholes for doing this to us."

I heard Sabo sigh loudly and I turned to look at him with my eyes showing how angry I was. He met my gaze head on, "When do you think we'll get a chance like that? Because if you haven't noticed it doesn't look like its going to happen anytime soon and I don't really think Luffy has much time left if we don't get him a doctor." I sat down with a huff and glared at my lap as Sabo's implied accusation ringing in my head.

"Its all my fault I already know this dammit," I growled out. Sabo sighed, "I never said it was your fault and let me finish." He said when I opened my mouth to retort. "If anything the fault is on all of us including Luffy." I knew it was my fault no matter what Sabo says to try to sugar coat the truth. It was me that made the fatal decision to stay back and play around in the woods longer than usual.

"Ace," I looked up at Sabo, "it seriously isn't your fault. I don't care what you do or say to argue against this. Besides Luffy and I both agreed with your plan despite the fact that we all knew it could lead to trouble. What I want to know is how Dandan and everyone else are doing," Sabo said in his annoying know-it-all tone of voice. Despite his words I didn't find any reassurance in them, but I ignored that in favor of listening to his lingering question that hung between us unanswered.

"They haven't forgotten us." Sabo and I jumped at the sound of Luffy's raspy voice. "Luffy! Your awake!" We both exclaimed feeling waves of relief crash into us. "They would never forget us," Luffy stated seriously while trying and failing to sit up. Sabo and I shared a look before Sabo replied, "Of course, Ace and I were just being stupid."

We helped Luffy sit up and Sabo let the younger boy lean against his chest. "Think you can drink water?" I asked while offering the last bottle of water we currently had. "I think so." I nodded and passed the water to Sabo hating the raspy sound to Luffy's voice.

Sabo took the water and began to help him drink the liquid. After a few sips he turned his head and refused to drink any more water. "Look we saved you some bread and cheese. Think you could eat it?" Sabo said hopefully only for Luffy to shake his head no. "Please, for us?" I said trying and failing to hide the desperate tone in my voice that was begging to be released. The eight year old hesitated before reluctantly agreeing.

After Luffy ate a few tiny bites of the little food we had Sabo layed him down to rest on the cold floor using the blond's coat as a blanket. When Luffy was sound asleep the guards came back and threw an older male into the cell directly next to ours. When the guards left the man looked around and noticed us staring at him. The man let his gaze assess the situation until finally it landed on the fever flushed Luffy. "What's wrong with the chibi?"

 **Author's Note:**  
 **Hello my lovely readers. I hope you are having a lovely day. Can anyone guess who that guy is? *crickets* No one? Well except for those crickets. I'm already half way done with the third chapter. Hope you all enjoy! Keep an eye out for chapter three! Bye luckies! *waves fiercely***


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece.**

 **A/N: Oh my glob! I did not expect so many favorites, follows, and reviews! I'm currently drowning in emails, so as a thank you here's another chapter.** **I do apologize now for the confusing point of view changes, I promise it changes in later chapters!** **Thank you so much for the those of you who gave your best guess! The answer for that is (obviously) in this chapter! *grins***

 **Warning: Contains curse words!**

 _Sabo's P.O.V_

Ace and I glared at the strange man sitting in the cell next to us. "None of your fucking business!" I heard Ace say from in front of me. As the man scooted closer to the cell bars between us I finally got a good look at him.

He looked to be around his late twenties or early thirties and was dressed like a chef. He was tan, had a scar next to his left ear, and a small black beard that didn't extend past his chin. Though, in my opinion, the strangest part was his hair. It looked like he stuck a loaf of bread on his head, if I remember correctly this type of hairstyle was called a pompadour.

His face shown in disbelief, "That doesn't look like nothing to me." As Ace was about to retort I cut him off, "We can handle it just fine on our own thank you." The man nodded seriously, "Of course you can but I really think you should let me check." I hated the thought of this stranger near Luffy, but he was our best bet. It couldn't hurt to let him see what was wrong, right?

Ace and I shared a quick look. "How can we trust you when we don't even know your name," Ace said while glaring at him after a silence had passed. The man smirked, "Ah you pulled the stranger card on me. Well my name is Thatch and I'm the fourth division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates."

"That doesn't mean anything," Ace said angrily. Thatch wagged his finger at the two of us, "Now now don't be like that you know my name that means we know each other." "It's not like you could actually do anything," I pointed out with a frown.

Thatch laughed, "Good point kid, but when my nakama gets here I want to warn them about what to expect." "What the hell are you talking about?" Ace asked with a suspicious glare. Thatch just smiled gently and motioned for us to bring Luffy closer. Just as we were about to refuse a groan was heard from the eight year old on the floor. "What's going on?" I faintly heard Luffy ask before he began to violently cough.

I immediately went to help Luffy sit up while Ace continued to glare at Thatch. "Its nothing that you have to worry about Luffy," I said quickly. Luffy looked around with hazy eyes and after a minute or so he finally noticed the pirate.

"Who are you?" Thatch smiled before responding, "Its rude not to give your name first." Luffy looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding, "My name is Monkey D. Luffy." Thatch grinned widely glad to have gotten some information about these three interesting kids, meanwhile Ace and I frowned. "My name is Thatch and I'm the fourth division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates."

Luffy's eyes immediately lit up at this new information. "You're a pirate!" Luffy exclaimed excitedly before he started coughing again. Ace rushed over and began to help him drink water while I gently held Luffy up. Thatch just smiled kindly at the three of us with a strange look in his eyes that startled me, but I chose to ignore it.

After Luffy drank some water Ace and I helped him get closer to Thatch after he asked. We put him just a little out of Thatch's reach though. "So Luffy can you tell me who the young boys sitting next to you are?" Luffy nodded excitedly, "Yup! These are my brothers, A-" Just as he was about to say our names Ace used his hand to cover Luffy's mouth. You'd think that after a year of being a slave Luffy would be more cautious about these things.

Ace must have been thinking the same thing as he directed one of his harsher glares at Luffy. "You idiot you don't just go give a stranger our names much less yours!" Ace hissed quietly. Luffy turned to look at Ace with a confused frown, "But Ace he really is nice!"

I studied Thatch's expression searching for any sign that he was not to be trusted, but the man just seemed to be amused. As Ace and Luffy were having a small argument I decided to just end the feud by telling this strange man our names.

"My name is Sabo and the one with freckles is Ace." Thatch smiled at me and nodded, "Good to know." Ace, having heard me give away our names, smacked me over the head. "Ow! What the heck was that for!?" I glared at him only to have Ace glare right back. "That's for telling him our names you idiot!" Just as I was about to retort I heard a thud and when I turned my head Luffy was unconscious on the floor looking far too pale in my opinion. "Luffy!" Ace and I both sat with him, panicking as we realized he was having trouble breathing.

I looked up to see Thatch panicking in his own cell. He noticed me staring and met my gaze with a worried light in his eyes. "By the looks of this that chibi won't make it past tomorrow if he doesn't get any medical attention soon!"

" **WHAT!?** " Ace exclaimed loudly. I smacked Ace on the head just like he had done a few minutes ago. "Calm down! We don't want the guards hearing this!" Ace nodded and began to bite his lip holding Luffy's hand tightly in his. Usually I would tease Ace for showing affection, but right now I couldn't blame him. Not when Luffy looked as if he was on the verge of death.

"Brats put away those depressing looks on your faces. We still have hope, if luck is on our side my nakama will be able to get here fast enough to save the chibi's life." Just as he uttered the last word an explosion rocked the ship violently causing Ace and I to slam into the hard wood. "Looks like luck _is_ on our side." Thatch whispered barely audible because of the noise of the attack his nakama were in the process of doing.

 **Author's Note:**  
 **Hello my lovely readers! I really hope you like this chapter. Hopefully the next one will be out soon. Please comment, like, and whatever else you do! Until next time Luckies! *waves fiercely***


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece.**

 **Warning: This story does contain curse words!**

 _Sabo's P.O.V_

I sat up with a groan and I felt a laugh build up when I saw Ace glaring at nothing in particular. "They're here!" I heard Thatch exclaim excitedly which filled me with all kinds of hope. After another jolt of the ship Thatch turned to us with a smirk, "Told ya so!"

Ace turned his glare to the pirate, but quickly averted his attention to the end of the hallway when the door burst open. As footsteps approached I held Luffy's unconscious body close to my chest while Ace took a defensive position in front of us.

The noble of this ship came stalking in with two guards trailing behind. They stopped in front of Thatch's cell. Thatch gave out a false smile as he addressed the men, "What can I do for you?" The noble snarled, "It's your fault we're getting attacked!" Thatch laughed obnoxiously before sneering, "What can you do? Send your lackeys to hurt me? I like to see you try."

The noble smirked, "Oh I know for a fact we can't do anything to you, but one of my loyal guards had seen an interesting sight earlier. It seems you had a fun interaction with our resident trouble some brats." I froze in fear before I began to scoot as far as possible to the back so I could hide Luffy in the shadows. I saw Thatch tense as he spoke with the nobles. Ace stayed silent, but I saw him prepare for a fight.

"What are you talking about? Have you seen how freaking dark these cells are? Your minions were making shit up to trick your ass into giving them more cash." Thatch said with a glare. I held my breathe praying that this was enough to make the noble leave. Another jolt rocked the ship reminding me that the ship was still under attack, I gently left Luffy on the floor and joined Ace.

The noble let out a chuckle that left goosebumps running over my skin in disgust. "It doesn't matter because we are still going to teach those brats a lesson, and who knows maybe it'll teach you one." With that the two guards unlocked our door and approached with matching smirks on their faces. That's when Ace and I attacked together.

Despite our best efforts the asshole guards managed to get a few hits in. I was bleeding from my lip and I was sure I was going to have a bruise on my left eye. Though I noticed Ace took most of the hits, which made my fists clench in fury as I realized he was doing so to protect me. As if I couldn't do it myself!

Before the battle could get even more heated a guard was thrown violently in the hallway. This distracted the guards long enough for Ace and I to knock them out with their own weapons. When I looked up at Thatch the man looked impressed.

I felt a pleased smile make its way to my face, but that was wiped away when heavy footsteps approached with a sense of urgency. Ace and I immediately got into defense positions again. Thatch sighed before he stood up and called out to the stranger approaching, "Hey! Over here! There's three more brats here too and one of them needs serious medical attention!"

When the owner of the footsteps came into view I saw a man with blond hair and blue eyes, but what really caught my attention was the fact that his head was shaped like a pineapple. He stared at us curiously before unlocking Thatch's cell door. "You get them and I'll make sure the way out is clear yoi." Thatch nodded before unlocking our cell while the strange man headed for the exit.

When we finally left the cell Ace was carrying Luffy on his back while I was holding his precious straw hat. Following Thatch we ran down a series of hallways, which left me breathless by the end. What pleased me was the fact that Ace didn't look any better.

When the four of us made it on deck we saw all the fighting as Thatch and the strange man led us to another ship. It was _huge_! Ace and I stopped walking to stare at it in amazement. "Isn't it amazing? I would love to stand here and gaze at it all day. Seriously I would, but we really need to keep going," Thatch said nervously.

Just as I was about to ask how we were supposed to get on the large ship the pineapple guy grabbed me while Thatch grabbed my brothers and they jumped. We landed on the deck and were immediately rushed to the infirmary by the strange man. He left rather quickly and the nurses removed Luffy from Ace's back. Just as we were about to start fighting the ladies Thatch appeared and held us back.

"Thatch what do we have here?" Asked an older looking woman that had a little lighter shade of brown hair and brown eyes. "Head nurse Selma! I would like you to meet Sabo and Ace," Thatch said while gesturing to us. The woman, now known as Selma, nodded before turning to Luffy who was being treated by a couple of nurses not to far away.

"What's wrong with him!?" Selma gasped out as she noticed the eight year old's condition before rushing over to Luffy. "Hello boys! My name is Alison and I'll be the one to give you your check up." A female said startling us as she appeared behind Ace and me. Thatch was already gone, having been led away by a different nurse for his own check up.

Alison led us to a bed away from the chaos that was surrounding Luffy. "Okay boys I need you to remove your shirts." I felt my face heat up in a blush. "What!? No!" Ace exclaimed with a bright blush highlighting his boyish freckles. Alison laughed, "I can assure you that you don't have anything I haven't seen before." I blushed harder as I removed my shirt with Ace following my example.

Alison let out a short giggle at our shyness before she became professional. She began to poke and prod at our chests while telling us to stop squirming so much. "What did they feed you?" Alison asked as her face darkened as she found something she did not like.

Ace and I flinched before I hesitantly responded for the both of us, "Um bread and cheese." Hearing this Alison seemed to get angrier. She wrote something down on a clipboard before moving over to where Thatch was at.

 _Alison's P.O.V_

As I approached Thatch my anger just kept growing. How could those bastard nobles gave them nothing but bread and cheese!? It's a miracle they weren't dead yet! "Thatch," I said quietly doing my best to not blow up at the commander. "Alison! What's the matter?" He said once he noticed my dark expression. "Did you know that those _nobles_ only gave them bread and cheese?" I said while spitting out the word nobles. At my question Thatch's expression turned from happy to furious in a matter of seconds, "What!? I'll make sure that those kids get a proper meal. This will not gone unnoticed."

I nodded as I felt relief rush through me, "For now I'm going to go see if I can help Selma. The two are fine for now so can you please go take those two to Pops? Just make sure to bring them back when you're done." Thatch nodded and made his way over to Sabo and Ace while I joined Selma.

The youngest of the three young boys at the moment were lying in a bed with multiple IVs connecting to his body and a breathing mask over his face. When I got to Selma she seemed to be angry at a nurse that I recognized as one of the newbies. _**"What do you mean he has sea stone in his system!?"**_

 **Author's Note:**  
 **Hello my lovely readers! I got a message asking to update this story so I was like why not? A few hours later and ta da! Its here! Even if I hadn't planned to update this so quickly. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Please like, comment, and whatever else you do! Oh and about those things on Luffy I don't actually know if I got the names right. Until next time, Luckies! *waves fiercely***


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece.**

 _Third Person P.O.V_

When Alison heard this she began to panic as she rushed over to the head nurse. "What's going on?" Alison asked with a worried look on her face. Selma sighed tiredly before responding, "It seems that our young patient has sea stone shards lodged into his body."

Alison nodded with a confused glint in her eyes, "Um how exactly did you manage to find it so quickly?" Selma pointed to a monitor, "One of the nurses noticed something was piercing his skin from inside. Using a small knife they were able to carefully remove it. We discovered it was sea stone when a patient touched it when he wanted to get a closer look as he remembered something similar. I want you to prepare to give the brat an X-ray. We want to know what we're working with here."

The younger nurse nodded and went over to help out the two nurses assisting Luffy. Selma walked off to another room to go get a closer look at the shard. "I hope that this isn't as bad as it looks, " Selma mumbled under her breathe.

 _Thatch's P.O.V_

As Alison walked away to go talk to Selma I made my way over to the two brats. Alison's words about the amount of food they received repeating in my head. How could those bastards give them only bread and cheese!? When I stood in front of the two brats they immediately tensed up though with their faces it just looked adorable.

I chuckled, "Calm down I'm just going to take you to the captain of this here fine crew." I saw the fear that flashed in the their eyes before it disappeared just as fast as it had come. I smiled at them ignoring that little detail as I told them to follow me.

 _Sabo's P.O.V_

We followed the strange man, but I couldn't help myself as I looked back to where Luffy was at. It looked like it was chaos over by his bed as nurses were running around like crazy. I knew I was worried about Luffy and judging on how Ace kept looking back I could tell he felt the same. I sighed quietly thinking about all the times that little rubber idiot nearly killed us with all this worry. As we exited the infirmary I caught a small glimpse of Alison freaking out as she spoke to the head nurse.

Once we exited we ended up in a long hallway with a few doors leading to different rooms. "This way boys," Thatch said cheerfully. Ace and I followed Thatch silently until we reached the deck. Once there both of us immediately tensed up even more than before as we watched as pirates were _everywhere_. Thatch just smiled brightly at us before grabbing our shoulders and leading us to the pineapple head guy from before and a _very big man_.

Ace and I instinctively slipped into defensive positions for a fight which seemed to amuse the man and pineapple head guy."Hiya pops! These are the two brats you wanted to see." At the captain's nod Thatch continued while gesturing to us when he said our names, "This is Sabo and Ace. Brats this is Whitebeard, the captain, and the guy with the weird hairstyle is Marco, the first mate and the first division commander of the crew."

Whitebeard laughed when Ace and I didn't relax in the slightest, "Calm down brats. I'm not going to eat you." Before anything else could be said Ace and I felt/heard our stomachs growl loudly which had the both of us blushing in embarrasment. Instead of getting angry like I thought he would Whitebeard just smiled gently at the two of us, "Thatch, Marco go give the brats brats some food." The two adults both nodded before leading us below deck again.

 _Selma's P.O.V_

As the results came in I saw that the sea stone was in multiple different places in his body. Each shard looked as though it was in a way forced into his body via injury or forced through via insertion. Those bastards basically used him as a test subject.

"Carrie, watch the brat for me. I'm going to go report to pops and send Alison to go find the other two brats. Now that we can spare a few hands I want to give those two a proper check." I said to a black haired woman. "Of course head nurse," Carrie replied with a smile. I nodded and left the infirmary to go deliver pops the news.

I found pops on deck looking up at the sky with sake in one hand and a red headed nurse checking something on one of the IV drips connected to his arm. "Lena, if you would please do me a small favor can you go down to the infirmary and tell Carrie to take another blood sample from our patient, Luffy? I forgot to ask her that before I left, thank you." The nurse nodded and left rather quickly.

"Pops," I said as a form of greeting. "Hello my daughter. What brings you here?" Whitebeard said with a wide smile. "Well for one you could stop drinking, and for another I came to give you an update on one of the three boys brought onto the ship."

 **Author's Note:**

 **Hello everyone! I'm back with another chapter of Our New Home! If anyone is wondering on why I'm taking so long to update then you can blame that on a few other One Piece fanfics I've been writing that are MarcoxAce.**

 **Its kinda hard to switch from them being lovey dovey to Marco raising Ace. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please favorite/follow, review and whatever else you do! Until next time, Luckies! *waves fiercely***


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece.**

 _Whitebeard's P.O.V_

I looked down at my daughter, the head nurse of this crew waiting for her to tell me what exactly was wrong with one of the guests we brought on board. "It seems the youngest child, Luffy, has sea stone shards lodged into his body. It would take multiple surgeries just to remove a few pieces. I'm not entirely sure how many pieces there are yet as I'm waiting for the X-ray results to finish." I sat back, swirling the sake I had in my large cup gently.

"Pops? I'm not entirely sure yet, but I believe it is our responsibility to care for the three boys now. I'm already worried with how the effects this situation the three were placed in will mess with their future. For all I know all three could have sea stone." I sighed heavily as I gazed out at the open sea, which over the course of many years had become my home. "We are pirates, and this life is not one fit for a child much less three of them. We'll have to wait and see as this is also the three children's choice as much as it is ours." Selma nodded and directed a smile at the nurse from before as she approached. "I'll be seeing you later with a new update, Pops." I nodded with a smile.

 _Two weeks later._

 _Third P.O.V_

In the span of two weeks Luffy has been feeling much better as the fever was subdued. Daily medical attention is placed upon the three boy's by worried pirates though. Sea stone was discovered in all three boys along with a multitude of different type of evidence on Sabo and Ace that further proves to Selma that the three were used like lab rats. Though life has certainly been an interesting ride for the three as dealing with such a large number of crew members everywhere.

Selma has since explained what is wrong with Luffy. They couldn't hide it since Luffy began to cough out blood. When that first happened Sabo and Ace panicked (even if they won't admit it), but when Selma explained that Luffy's body was rejecting the sea stone. Along with the fact that Ace and Sabo were effected as well. She questioned them if Luffy was a devil fruit user, but instead received a blank stare and a harsh glare from the three boys.

Since then Sabo and Ace have become even more protective of their little brother. Luffy, on the other hand, has been using this to his advantage as he chose every possible moment to cause some form of fun for himself and his brothers. It's annoying the commanders, not that any of them would actually do anything about it.

"Luffy!" After hearing that the pirates sighed and some winced thinking it was far too early in the morning for the yelling. A certain pineapple head man, Marco, sighed before going to investigate the current problem. He entered the galley where he heard the scream come from and saw the little rubber boy running from Thatch. Seriously that kid is dangerous! They haven't even known him for three weeks and he managed to befriend everyone enough so if he does something wrong he won't be punished as severely. Today it seemed he stole some food judging by the yells Thatch is screaming from in between curse words.

The other two brats, Sabo and Ace, seem to not care as they continue to eat their breakfast. Those two are extremely stubborn, in these two weeks they refused to either leave Luffy's side or leave from their room, which is the old second division commander's private quarters. The pirates were barely able to get the two to come eat a meal with them.

The only reason anyone can think of for them possibly joining is for Luffy's sake. Marco sighed before grabbing some food and joining the two brats. They sparred him a glance (a glare in Ace's case) before continuing their meal. After a couple of minutes Thatch and Luffy joined them with their own food.

Luffy grinned a really wide smile at the blond man as a way of greeting him before eating. Thatch was the only one that actually spoke to Marco. "Hello my dear brother! How are you today on this fine morning?" Marco stared at him as if he was crazy, "You literally talked to me ten minutes ago, yoi." Thatch just laughed, "That was ten minutes ago. You need to stop living in the past!" Thatch just began laughing harder when Marco shot him an annoyed look. "Whatever, yoi."

The rest of their breakfast was spent in silence except for the small arguments the three brothers had. "Luffy," Marco said when both he and Luffy finished breakfast. "You need to go to the infirmary today. Don't forget yoi." Luffy nodded excitedly, "I know!" He then proceeded to run off with his two brothers behind him.

"Can't they ever sit still? At this rate I'll have to assign the chore of taking care of those three, yoi" Thatch laughed. "You do know that if I assign that chore it'll be commanders job only." Thatch paled at the new found information before "suddenly" remembering that he has to help in the kitchen. "Got to go!" Marco sighed after Thatch left before muttering to himself, "Family you can't live with them, but you can't live without them, yoi." And so begins the adventures of ASL living with the Whitebeard Pirates.

 **Author's Note:**  
 **Hello! I hope you readers are enjoying this story! Until next time Luckies! *waves fiercely***


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece.**

Sabo, Ace, and Luffy leaned against a door with their ears pressed against the dark wood. All three were straining their ears to hear what was being said amongst the commanders inside the room. All of them had been in their for nearly half an hour.

Despite how much they strained their ears only muffled voices were heard with occasional snippets of conversation being loud enough for the three to hear. Ace grit his teeth in pain as Sabo accidently elbowed him in the gut. Ignoring the sharp glare practically being burned into the side of his head Sabo was able to catch another part of the conversation.

"They're kids!"

"They were slaves, they are plenty good enough to handle this!"

"You want to place them against the whole world!"

"They had their own battle against the world and they made it with smiles on their faces that rival the freaking sun!"

"They can get hurt and they could be used against us!"

"We're not the strongest crew in the world because we helped old ladies cross the damn street!"

As the conversation continued the voices died down again. Luffy bit his lip and slid down until he was sitting with his back against the door. "What's wrong Lu?" Sabo asked quietly. "Somebody in there doesn't like us," Luffy responded with a whisper. "Tch with thoughts like that you're gonna grow up to be a sore loser," Ace said with a snort. Luffy glared at his freckled brother.

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

Ace burst into loud laughter while Luffy sat there with a confused look twisting his expression. "Guys, seriously shut up! They're gonna find out we're out here," Sabo said in frantic whispers. "Too late," a voice said from the doorway.

The three froze in shock and horror, not having realized someone was standing there or that the door was even opened in the first place. All three slowly turned their heads to face the feminine looking commander standing at the door.

Eyes filled with amusement stared at all three taking in the scene. Ace and Luffy at one point in there fight began to pull at each other's cheeks while Sabo looked ready to shove them apart. The most surprising thing about this was how far Luffy's cheek seemed to extend. "Izo, what's wrong?" Ace let go of Luffy's cheek and Izo could clearly see the fear in all three's eyes. "It's just as you suspected, the three brats were listening."

Holding their breaths the three wondered if the commander would include on what he just saw. "I've decided that this meeting will be fine without me as I take our three little guests away from here," Izo said with a grin as he left no room to argue.

"Gurararara! If you insist my son! One of your siblings will inform you on how this get together ends." Whitebeard said with a laugh. Izo nodded in thanks before leaving the room with a quite click from the door. With a gentle grip the commander began to lead them away from the meeting place.

The feminine male led them to a plain looking room with a messy desk, neatly done bed, small bookshelf, and a closet. He gestured for the three siblings to take a seat on the bed while he sat done on the only chair in the room. "So you three are the brats that have taken this ship by the storm. My name is Izo and I'm the 16th division commander. You all are?"

"Ace," the freckled boy said with a sharpness to his tone. "Sabo," the blond said with a small smile. "I'm Luffy and I'm gonna be the King of the Pirates!" Izo nodded with a smile before stopping once Luffy had exclaimed his dream. "Quite a big goal you have there. I'm just not sure you'll be able to complete it as the Whitebeard Pirates are aiming to make Oyaji king."

Luffy puffed his cheeks, "That ain't gonna stop me! I'll fight and beat him to that title!" Izo grinned and with a sincere look in his eyes responded, "I'm sure you will." Ace narrowed his eyes suspiciously while Sabo merely chuckled, Luffy, on the other hand, was absolutely beaming with joy.

"Enough of that, what were you three brats doing listening in on an important meeting?" Izo asked seriously and was surprised with how quickly their mood's dropped. "Somebody in there doesn't like us," Luffy replied quietly. Izo thought back the meeting, "Yea, you're right. In fact everyone in their doesn't like you guys, because everyone in there _adores_ all three of you."

The three looked at Izo with shocked looks along with a variety of emotions that the commander could not fully understand. "The reason any of them were opposing was simply because we're worried on the effect this whole ordeal will have on you. This crew isn't exactly your friendly neighbor next door, we're pirates that have the capabilities to commit wrongdoings. We're pirates that have committed wrongdoings and I can't promise that we won't continue to."

"Pff well that's stupid. Going by that logic you can count me as the neighborhood bully with the way I act," Ace said with a glare. "We're not exactly a pleasant company to have," Sabo added while Luffy grinned excitedly. Izo sighed with a hint of a smile on his painted lips. "I suppose you're right, now before I take you three down to have a meal might you explain the stretched skin from earlier?"

Ace and Sabo cursed under their breaths having hoped that the commander had forgotten about that. "I have the gomu gomu no mi! I can really stretch," Luffy exclaimed as he pulled his left cheek to extreme lengths. Ace and Sabo both felt a rush of anger flare through their blood as they smacked Luffy upside the head. "Oww! What was that for!?" Ace grit his teeth, "For being an idiot!" "I'm not an idiot!"

"Yes you are!"

"No I'm not!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

Ace grinned widely while Luffy was confused, Sabo merely sighed wondering how many times in a day his two brothers would fight so stupidly. Izo laughed loudly, "All right, that's enough fighting. Let's focus that energy else where. Now come on, we gotta find a nurse that can tell us exactly what you can and can't eat."

 **Author's Note:**  
 **Hi, I'm so sorry for not updating in a while. I've recently been really busy and couldn't find time to write. *grins* I ended up staying up past midnight finishing up this chapter, which I'm exhausted now but it was worth it. I hope you Luckies enjoyed this chapter! I'll try to update sooner and thanks for reading!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece.**

After Izo left the galley the three brats were left alone to figure out what to do with their time. Which didn't last long before a short guy with brown hair and eyes came bounding up with a grin.

"Hi! I'm Haruta, 12th division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates!" Luffy returned his wide grin while Sabo and Ace merely nodded. "I'm Luffy, and I'm gonna be King of the Pirates!" "

"Sabo."

"Ace."

Haruta didn't seemed fazed at the reactions from each kid. "You guys want me to show you around the ship?" Three faces lit up in excitement which caused the small commander to laugh.

"Okay, so thats a positive! I'm surprised no one has given you three a proper tour, but then again everyone tends to forget the obvious things. Especially our resident mother hen which is kinda weird considering he's the mother hen."

"Oh my god! You guys have chickens! Can I eat one!?" Luffy asked with stars in his eyes. Haruta froze wondering how the kid thought they had chickens.

"Idiot! I don't think they have chickens and if they did why the hell would they let you eat one!?" Ace hissed with a glare as he felt on edge at walking around with a stranger.

"It's a figure of speech, Lu. I don't believe pirates would have birds lying around for you to eat." Sabo said cutting Luffy off before an argument could break out.

Haruta grinned, "See the blond kid gets it! I was talking about Marco. The man worries about everyone which is unsurprising seeing as how he is the oldest brother on the ship. It's his duty or some crap like that to make sure we're all safe. Now come on we're losing daylight standing here. We have a lot to cover as this ship supports a thousand crew members for a reason."

* * *

"Okay, this is the navigation room! We have all our navigators gather here to assess our weather, direction we go in, and other similar needs like that here. Which might se-"

"This is so cool!"

Haruta felt slight irritation at being interrupted which quickly gave way to surprise as Sabo stepped up showing more emotion than the commander was expecting. The brunet swore there was nothing really much to see in this place and was quite boring to spend the time.

"Look at all the maps! You could pinpoint everything from in here! The details are magnificent and very well drawn with numbers in scale to the real thing. The islands seem to even have little details so that you can see what type of weather is being faced."

"Hahhahahahahaha! Someone gets it! See! We told you it was a work of art Commander Haruta!" A random crew member said with a hearty laugh.

Haruta just felt shocked as he watched Sabo ask all kinds of questions that the commander could barely keep track of. "Tch, you look stupid with your mouth open. Don't be too surprised Sabo loves this stuff." Ace said with a sigh, but Haruta still was able to see the fondness hidden beneath chocolate brown eyes.

"Yup! Sabo wants to be a navigator!" Luffy said with a proud grin. Haruta chuckled, "I see. That's a great goal to have as it is an important pirates should have to be able in harsh seas."

"Yea, well thats why you rely on your nakama." Ace muttered, Luffy merely nodded in agreement after having heard the other.

Haruta let a small smile worm its way onto his face. These kids were full of surprises for the commander.

"Oi! Sabo," the brunet called out, "we should keep going if we want to cover more of the Moby Dick."

The blond spared a glance then finished up his conversation with the pirate and ran back to his brothers. "Sorry, guess I got carried away there." Sabo said with a sheepish laugh and a wave goodbye to the man he was speaking with.

"Don't even worry about it, but we still have a ton of places to see. Come on!"

* * *

Ace's jaw dropped when they found their way to what he considered his favorite room. The freckled boy was barely listening to what Haruta had to say.

"This is a training faculty for when you don't want to go on deck or the deck simply can't be used." Ace grinned widely and grabbed his two brother's hands dragging them along until they stood over a training mat.

"Oi! Take you shoes off!" Haruta called out as he sat down to watch the three boys.

After kicking off their shoes, the trio got into fighting stances. "You guys know the rules. Everyone is fighting for themselves. Haruta can you count us off?" Ace asked with an excited twinkle in his eyes. The commander nodded with a grin.

"The fight begins at when I say go!"

"Ready!"

"Set!"

"Go!"

When the last word was uttered the three sprang into attack. Kicks and punches were sent flying. Soon enough the three bodies were jumping around, sending attack after attack at each other. Haruta was really surprised at the agility and strength all three held.

Granted the commander could clearly see the differences in strength between Luffy and his two brothers. Which was proven correct when five minutes into their battle Luffy was declared the first to lose. Which the youngest accepted with a laugh as he joined the commander in sitting down. Together the two sat there waiting for the other two to finish their fight.

Which lasted for another twenty minutes. Seriously these kids should've been worn out or something. By the time a winner was declared a small group of pirates that were there to train were surrounding the two to watch who would win. When Ace came out as winner Haruta wasn't surprised to see money being exchanged as bets were placed.

The two boys came up to the commander with match grins while Luffy jumped up to challenge Ace. Before anything could start Haruta dragged the three away from the crowd and away from the training room. Seriously, why aren't these kids tired?

* * *

"WAH!"

Four pairs of feet ran along the hallways franticly trying to escape from the area where the screams were coming from.

"GET BACK HERE YOU BRATS!"

Without slowing down the four people kept running until they made it to the kitchen. Thatch, who was there with a few other cooks, was preparing dinner for the crew when they barged in.

"What did you do?" The cook asked with an amused smile decorating his lips as he stared at Haruta, Ace, Sabo, and Luffy.

Pink paint and glitter covered some of their clothing and coated their hands. All four had matching grins and Thatch was a little disappointed that they committed a prank without him.

"W-We found," Haruta tried saying through his gasping , due to sprinting from here to the bathroom. "You're s-storage room."

The smile instantly melted off the older commander's face. The other cook's who were half listening half busy cooking looked up in curiosity. Thatch laughed nervously before ushering all four out, "I'll be back guys. Just gotta talk to these four about not going into the food storages."

"Okay," one of the cooks said as they all got back to work. Afterall they couldn't focus on the commander for long, not when the crew needed dinner to be done in a few hours.

Thatch ushered them into a side room that held dry foods that were going to be cooked soon.

"Now listen up, how did you find my secret room!?"

Haruta sighed dramatically, "You make it sound like some big secret. Almost everyone knows about it. How else would you keep your stuff?"

"B-But how!? I've never told anyone its whereabouts." Thatch asked paling a little.

"For the record, I don't believe Marco knows," Sabo added with a cheeky grin.

"That was so cool! There is paint all over the bathrooms!" Luffy exclaimed.

"It was alright," Ace said calmly, but the excited gleam in his eyes gave it away.

"Oh you think that's cool. You three brats should join me on a prank," Thatch said smiling widely as he decided to let this little incident pass. "Now you four have to take some responsibility Marco is gonna be one unhappy chicken."

Haruta paled, "Crap, okay let's go! Quickly bef-"

"Too late," A voice said as the door opened. There stood Marco glaring at the five of them from the doorway. "Go clean that mess! Right now! All five of you!"

"Wah! I didn't do anything!" Thatch said surprised.

Marco glared, "You didn't have too. These four are already being influenced by you, so by extension you are at fault. Now go before I assign more chores to all of you!"

"Yes, commander!"

 **~Two hours later~**

"Ugh, I hate cleaning," Ace muttered as he picked at the pink paint stuck to his nail.

"Too bad," Marco muttered. "Now get on to the deck, Oyaji wants to talk to you."

When the three kids got on deck Oyaji was there to tell the three kids all kind of stories which surprised them because they thought they would be scolded. Instead of fighting the three sat down near the giant captain and listened attentively.

This brought a gentle smile to the commander's face. The three kids have grown on him since this morning. Haruta learned all kinds of things and he finally realized what it felt like to be an older brother. Suddenly, not being the youngest didn't seem so bad as he once thought it would be.

Watching the three sit down and listen to tales his father told just added icing to the cake. With them on board Haruta honestly believed not a day would go by where excitement didn't find him in every waking hour with these three troublesome brats. "They wreck havoc wherever they go, yoi."

Haruta turned to see Marco standing to him. "I don't know how they do it, but they seem to grab on to your heart and then suddenly you don't want to let them go."

Haruta chuckled finding truth in that statement,"Yea, I mean look at Pops. I haven't seen him this excited in a while."

"Just Pops, yoi? You seem pretty attached yourself."

Haruta stuttered with an embarrassed blush, "M-Me!? What about you!? You're the mother hen! Go take care of your ducklings or something!" The younger commander then rushed off muttering to himself leaving the blond man behind.

"Maybe it would be best if they stayed on the ship. It's been years since I've seen this much life in the crew, yoi." Marco said to himself with a thoughtful look on his face as he watched the three listen to one of Whitebeard's wildest tales.

 **Author's Note:**

 **I'm so very sorry for not updating sooner! I just got so busy with school then after school stuff that I neglected my writing. I'm managing my time better now, so I really hope I'll have more time now. Thank you for waiting so long for this chapter and I hope you enjoyed this update! Until Next Time Luckies!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece.**

* * *

"NO!"

Luffy sat up with a jolt as tears gathered in his eyes. Ace and Sabo also woke up quickly after hearing the youngest scream.

"Lu?" Ace called out softly as Sabo gently placed a hand on the 8 year old's shoulder.

Luffy looked around franticly and when he saw their concerned faces he burst into a ball of tear's.

"I saw it! We where there again! I-I saw blood and Ace was strapped to a table and Sabo was screaming and I couldn't move an-"

"Lu!" Sabo called out as he placed his arms around the trembling child.

"We're good, nothing like that is happening. It's all in the past." Sabo whispered.

"Yea, Luffy don't even worry. We're okay, everything is going to be okay. All three of us are free now," Ace said quietly and when the two looked up at him they found him smiling gently.  
This almost instantly calmed the mood, and no one was surprised. While this didn't happen often, Ace would let down his mask and had a way to just being peace to the two when they needed it. It relaxed them, and made them feel even more at home.

Luffy nodded still a little teary eyed as he clutched the blankets between his small fists. "You didn't move the bandages did you?" Sabo asked worriedly.

"No," Luffy said. "Good now let's get back to sleep," Ace sighed as he pulled the blanket up only to be stopped by fearful brown eyes.

"How about instead of going to sleep so soon we play a game?" Sabo asked quietly.

Luffy nodded excitedly while Ace nodded with small relief in his eyes for Sabo being able to think up an alternative so quickly.

"What game?" Luffy asked with a tilt of his head.

"How about the one where we each tell a story. The one who can keep the other two most entertained wins," Sabo asked with a smile.

Ace and Luffy nodded in agreement. "I'll go first," Luffy said, his tears already forgotten.

"This was on a training trip with grandpa. He had left me in a really big forest and there were these monkeys. They had bananas and I wanted one so I went to go take one, but they ended up chasing me all day. By the end I got my banana," Luffy grinned really wide.

Sabo and Ace laughed knowing that the little idiot wasn't lying.

"You're supposed to share a story not a memory stupid," Ace snorted.

"Well if you can do this so well you tell the next story," Sabo said with a grin.

"Okay I will," Ace glared.

"A long time ago, there was a young king who ruled the land with an iron fist. Constantly in control and refusing to give up his position as king. One day, a lady servant approached him with a letter in hand. Now this letter needed to be mailed, but it first needed to be closed. When the evil young king went to lick it shut he realized it was poisoned. It was too late he had already licked it and since he was so mean no one stepped up to help. He died, the end."

"Hahhahahahahaha!" Sabo laughed while Luffy grinned. "What kind of story was that!?"

Ace began to blush furiously. "Well I'd like to see you do better!"

"Okay, I will!"

"A long time ago, there were three soldiers. All tall and strong, ready to fight any monster, conquer over their every fear, and save the lives of those in need. They traveled the lands and each step bringing more adventure, more danger, and more freedom than they ever imagined."

"Before long everyone knew their names, and everyone knew of the great deeds they have done for the world. Women, men, and children would flock to them like moths to a flame. Viewing them as the saviors of every land, of every home, of every life."

"The three had everything they could ever dream of money, fame, and power. Although at the peak of their lives they suddenly vanished without a trace. No one knew where they went and soon enough rumors went flying around."

"Strong believers would say that they got lost on a dangerous quest. Other's believed beautiful maidens distracted them from their wonderful lives. Those that felt abandoned said that they made off with their fortune leaving everyone to die. As each story went around the words became even more cruel, painting the three once known as heroes into horrible criminals whose only goal in life was to steal, cheat, and lie."

"Little did everyone know the three soldiers, the three brothers in arms were captured by a group of witches with no hope of escape, no hope of survival, with only each other as company to keep them sane. Soon enough a year went by with each day becoming darker than the last."

"When the three were at their limit, and death was sure to soon to come in their futures did help arrive. Heroes completely unheard of by the three soldiers burst in and saved them from their hellish nightmare. They were suddenly thrust into a free world once again, thrust into the world that no longer cared for them. To this day they fight to leave a mark once again on the world that scorns them."

Sabo finished with a smile as he stared at Ace's wide eyed expression. Luffy had stars in his eyes, "what happened next?"

Sabo shrugged, "who knows? Those three still search for a place to grab onto in the world."

Ace shrugged, "I'm sure they'll be fine, now let's go to sleep. I'm tired."

Sabo grinned, "Ace...are you pouting?"

Luffy laughed, "Ace is pouting! Ace is pouting!"

Ace blushed, "Just shut up and go to sleep!"

Sabo and Luffy laughed before beginning to chant, "Ace is pouting! Ace is pouting! Ace is pouting!"

"I AM NOT! NOW SHUT UP!"

* * *

The next morning when the three boys showed up for breakfast only two out of the three were fully awake. Sabo and Luffy felt bad for keeping Ace up longer than he should've been. Though the blond child especially feared that Ace would have a sleep attack as his narcolepsy has yet been revealed to the pirates. Still Sabo had hope that they could sneak the freckled boy away for a quick nap later.

"Ace are you okay?" Izo asked as Ace looked ready to nod off.

"Hmm? Yea, I'm fine. Just a little tired is all." Ace replied as he gathered his senses back in order to eat.

Sabo supposed he should be happy that Ace managed to act natural and even seem almost awake by the end of breakfast. Sabo should have also counted it as blessing that Ace made it through all their chores and even up until lunch.

Of course that's when their luck ran out. That's when the stress of missing even a few hours of sleep really hit the freckled boy in the face. They were simply exiting the busy mess hall when Ace's narcolepsy decided to say hello. In the middle of the very crowded, very busy area Ace collapsed face first to the floor.

Sabo should've counted himself lucky that no one screamed too loudly after Ace passed out. He also should've counted it as lucky that Ace didn't collapse during an important event, such as the ship being attacked or during one of Luffy's upcoming surgeries.

Though of course it was sorta hard to think of these things when your brother collapses to the floor then the surrounding pirates start freaking out as if it was the end of the world. Which is completely out of line. They're pirates so why the hell are they acting like ten year olds that accidently broke their mother's very expensive perfume?

Sabo sighed and wasn't surprised when Luffy bent down and began poking Ace's face.

"Lu, you know Ace doesn't like you doing that," Sabo said with an amused smile. Luffu grinned and was about to respond when a yell rang out.

"Get away from him he might be injured! Quick someone take him to the infirmary!" A nearby pirate called out.

"Someone get a nurse," Another said.

Sabo and Luffy tried to tell them it was fine and that Ace is okay but no one was listening. It wasn't until Ace suddenly sat up with a yawn did everyone freeze. Then of course chaos.

"AAAHHHH! HE'S ALIVE!"

"OH MY GOD! SO THE COOKING DIDN'T KILL HIM!"

"UGH YOU BRAT NEARLY GAVE ME A HEART ATTACK!"

"EVERYONE SHUT UP!"

All the pirates froze as a nurse stepped forward and stood in front of the three kids.

"You three, explain now."

"I have narcolepsy," Ace said loudly.

"Meaning he falls asleep at random times," Sabo added upon seeing all the pirates' confused faces.

"And why didn't you inform anyone about this?" The nurse asked.

"Because it didn't seem important," Luffy said with a confused tilt of his head.

The nurse let out an annoyed sigh, "Brats this stuff is always important. Now let's go see head nurse."

When the three looked ready to protest she gave them a particularly nasty glare. The three went without further objections.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! See you luckies in the next chapter!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece.**

When Ace, Sabo, and Luffy made it to the galley, and they got their food Thatch waved them over. Sabo and Ace hesitated but Luffy walked up to him happily.

"Hello~" Luffy said with a smile before he began eating. Ace and Sabo took a seat on his left and right. The two felt way more comfortable with Luffy sitting between them. As the three began to eat, they noticed Thatch perk up before a smile broke out.

"Dude! Welcome home!"

While his two brothers comtinued eating, Sabo paused to take a look at the person Thatch was talking too. Upon his eyes landing on the approaching figure, Sabo immediatly tensed which alerted Ace and Luffy.

Recognition was momentarily seen in the dark eyes of the man aproaching. He grinned, a large smile that showed yellowing teeth and bright pink gums. He slid into the empty seat next to the fourth division commander as they shared a brief hug. The three boys were all tensed as they tryed and failed to remember where they had seen this man's face before.

"Commander! It has been far to long since I've seen you're ugly mug." The man said with a hearty laugh. Luffy froze, and felt the air in his lungs leave him. The eight year old reached down to tug at his siblings arms. The three shares similiar looks of distress.  
"Excuse us." Sabo mutter as he stood, pulling the other two with him. Thatch looked up from his conversation with the stranger, "Wha? Why? You haven't even finished your food!" Ace glared, "We're not hungry, is that a crime?"

Thatch looked confused, "No, but at least take the time to meet this guy." The man seated next the Thatch fixed his stare at the three of them. "I just got back from a long term mission. My name is Marshall D. Teach, from the second division."

Thatch grinned, "At the rate he is going Teach will be the second division _commander!"_

Sabo nodded with a strained smile, momentarily ignoring the way Luffy was tugging at his wrist. "Amazing," Ace said sarcastically. "We really need to go though. Like right now, so bye." The freckled boy then practically dragged his brothers away. "Uh, bye?" The chef called out after them with a confused expression.

The moment the three were out the doors they sprinted for their room. They ran on ignoring the surprised shouts or the call of their names as they ran past pirate after pirate. Adrenaline, fear, and the flood of memories they did not want to remember clouded their minds. The need to hold on to each other, and to find a safe place to hide were too strong to ignore.

Upon reaching their room, the three entered and slammed the door shut. "What was that!?" Sabo asked as he took deep breaths of much needed air. "Not safety," Luffy answered with a frown. "No, that was not safe at all," Ace whispered.

"I think it's safe to assume I'm not the only one who remembers that bastard?" Sabo whispered as he turned his gaze to the two beside him. "Why is he here? Why is he on this ship? Dammit! I knew it wasn't safe to trust these pirates. They're trying to trick us!" Ace said harshly. Luffy felt tears prickle at his eyes, "N-No! They said we were safe!"

"Face it, Lu. They probably want to sell us to the highest bidder," Ace clenched his fists. Small beads of blood appeared where his dull nails dug into flesh. "Let's take deep breaths as we try to figure out what is going on," Sabo suggested. "Deep breaths!? Deep breaths!? DEEP BREATHS AREN'T GONNA PROTECT US! NOT FROM HIM!" Ace hollered as his eyes narrowed.

"Well freaking out, and getting mad at each other isn't gonna help either! Now calm down!" Sabo yelled while Luffy collapsed as he cried. The two froze before Sabo put his arm around the younger boy. Ace sank down as he vigorously wiped at the tears gathering at the corner of his eyes. "Then what do we do?" Ace asked softly.

"Well, let's think. Our biggest, and worst tormenter is on the same us. Good news is that this ship is packed with people who said we're safe. Bad news is that they all trust the monster, and if we tell anyone we risk them taking the enemies side." Sabo said for the other two to hear. "So?" Ace asked as he watched Luffy wipe away his tears. "So our best bet is to wait. We wait for Blackb - I mean Teach to make his move." Sabo said quietly. "What else can we do?"

Ace agreed with a nod, and scooted towards the two to hug them. They sat there clutching each other in silence.

The three stayed in their room all day, clinging to each other in hopes that the memories of pain filled days would fade away. They skipped dinner time as they just couldn't find the strength to potentially run into their biggest enemy. A knock sounded at the door.

"Are you three okay, yoi?" They had tensed at the knock, but hearing the familiar verbal tick calmed them to am extent. "We're fine," Sabo called out as he momentarily paused from running his hands through a sleeping Ace and Luffy's hair. "Well then can I come in? I have your dinner, yoi." The blond boy hesitated before agreeing. He only hoped Ace and Luffy would understand.

Marco gently pushed open the door to find Ace, Sabo, and Luffy on the bed. Sabo was sitting down with his back to the wall, and the other two were curled up near him. Ace and Luffy were sound asleep as Sabo ran his fingers through their dark brown hair. They looked adorable, and reminded Marco just how young the three truly were.

"What is that?" Sabo asked quietly. Marco looked down at the semi large tray he was holding. "Some kind of stew. This is supposed to help with your current dieting issues, yoi." Sabo nodded and gestured for Marco to set it down on the empty desk on the other side of the room.

"Thanks, Marco."

"Not a problem, yoi."

The two went silent. Marco watched the three while Sabo looked up at the ceiling in thought. The older blond almost felt bad for ruining this almost comforting moment.

"We missed you today. Thatch said you three were acting weird this morning, and then you pulled that stunt of running franticly though the halls. Mind providing an explanation, yoi?" Marco said seriously leaving no room for a way out of this talk as he watched Sabo's face carefully.

Blue met blue, as there eyes met. "He," Sabo gestured to Ace, who was practically curled up in his lap. "was not feeling well, so we rushed here in hopes some rest would help ease his pain." Marco silently raised an eyebrow, "Why not the infirmary, yoi?" Sabo gave a small grimace, "With the amount of time we spend there with all the injuries we sustained in captivity, is it really a surprise that we'll avoid it until absolutely necessary?"

Marco sighed, "I suppose not. You should really consider going to see a nurse though, yoi." Sabo smiled, "This is nothing. A small headache that rest will surely fix. Ace will be fine in the morning." Marco gave a questioning look one that he knew Haruta had dubbed as Mother Hen mode. "And if he isn't?" Sabo blinked in surprise before the smile slipped back into place. "Then I'll take him myself."

Marco nodded, bid the other a goodnight as he was leaving. As he walked to his own room he couldn't shake the feeling that Sabo was hiding something. Maybe Thatch was right, he needed a break.

 **Author's note:**

 **Hello lovely readers! I'm really really sorry for disappearing so suddenly. The good news is that I'm back! School's started, and that gives me access to a computer. The next update should come in about two weeks. (Once the school gets situated.) Please wait for me! Thanks for understanding! Hopefully I see you in the next chapter, Luckies~!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece.**

* * *

"Sabo please tell me you're joking," Ace asked as he paced in their temporary living quarters.

"I'm dead serious," Sabo said with a grim look on his face but his eyes shown with desperation. "We should gather more information on Teach."

"Why? So that jerk can find even more of a reason to kill us?" Ace hissed. "I'm not gonna risk your lives for something as stupid as that."

Sabo sighed, "We'll be careful. Besides it's not like we're going in blind. We'll ask a few people here and there."

"This is insane! We could get in some serious trouble."

Sabo shot Ace a glare. "Since when have you been known to be responsible? Look, this will be easy. In and out."

Ace clenched his fists as he met Sabo's glare head on, "Since it involved the safety of my brothers."

Sabo smiled teasingly, "Aww, you really do care. You're such a big softy under all that intense rage, aren't you?"

Ace turned away in embarrassment, "S-Shut up! What about Luffy? He'll give this whole thing away!"

Sabo smiled thinly, "Luffy's scheduled for another surgery today. While that's happening we make our move. Before you say anything, we'll make sure to be back before he's released."

Ace glared, "Luffy never left our sides when any of us where in the infirmary. Why should we? What kind of brothers our we if we do that?"

With a sigh Sabo responded, "Both of us are trying to do what is right for our small pact, but Ace I really do think we should do some recon of our own."

A conflicted look flashed on the freckled boy's face for an instant before he reluctantly nodded in agreement. "Fine, let's do some research."

Sabo smiled in relief, glad to have Ace on board with his plan.

* * *

Of course things don't always go as planned. The two older boys should not have been surprised when Luffy's surgery was moved back a day due to a returning crew member's more urgent injuries. Now they had to either wait or take Luffy along for the ride.

"I still want to try today," Sabo whispered to Ace while Luffy chased around the dog, Stefan, all over the deck.

"Yea, well what do we do with him?" Ace whispered back as he gestured to Luffy with his left hand.

"Leave him to wander?" Sabo suggested.

"Why so he could possibly be vulnerable to anybody attacking him?" Ace said with a glare.

"It was just a suggestion, sheesh." Sabo looked around aa if the answer would be found somewhere on the deck for everyone to see. "Do you want to try and dump him on somebody?"

Ace paused as he pondered on the suggestion. "Who would take him though?"

Sabo shrugged his shoulders, "Marco maybe? Or Haruta? Izo? Whitebeard? Even Thatch will do."

Ace frowned, "Maybe, but then we won't be able to ask whoever takes care of Lu about any of the information that we're looking for."

"You're right," Sabo said as he thought about the problems with the idea. "Plus, if we do ask questions about Teach won't somebody notice us? What if they tell him?"

Ace chewed his bottom lip absentmindedly. "We'll just have to make it seem like pure curiosity I guess."

"That's gonna be tough," Sabo said.

"Can't be too tough," Ace shrugged before turning to Luffy. "Hey Luffy, how do you feel about staying with Whitebeard real quick?"

"Yay! Story time!"

* * *

"Okay, step 1: distract Luffy is complete."

Ace groaned from where he was seated on the bed the three brothers share , "how many steps are there?"

Sabo grinned, "well I currently have planned out 5, this includes the list of people we have to visit."

Ace sighed already knowing how Sabo was so he wasn't surprised that the blond had a list ready.

"What's first then?"

"Well step 2 is find Teach," Sabo asked while lowering his voice so nobody could hear.

Ace tensed up, and clenched his fists. Sabo grimaced, "I hate it too, but we have to make sure that where we start searching he's not there."

"Fine, let's search the galley first."

The two left their shared room and headed toward the galley. When they got there, Ace and Sabo found Teach talking to a member that looked to be taking a break from kitchen duty.

Before the two could leave the area, Thatch came out from the kitchen. He noticed them standing at the door, and his face brightened. The man wiped his hands with a hand towel as he called out.

"Ace! Sabo!"

The two froze before Sabo smiled as he forced Ace to go up to Thatch with him.

"Hi, Thatch." Sabo said.

Thatch grinned, "How are you two doing? Where's Luffy?"

Ace shrugged, "Fine. With Whitebeard."

"You guys hungry? I could whip you guys up a snack?" Thatch asked as he looked between the two of them.

"No, we're good we just had a quick question," Sabo said slowly.

"Sure, what is it?"

"How are people placed with sleeping arrangements?" Ace asked feeling stupid and awkward about asking.

Thatch thought about this before answering, "Well people roommate together in large rooms. Like four maybe five to a room? Why?"

"No reason," Sabo answered quickly. "Just out of curiousity how would someone be able to tell who is in what room?"

Thatch grinned, "We have these labels on the doors each one has the names of who reside in what room. Each hall has a division number on each end. After that it's all in alphabetical order in deciding who sleeps where."

"Makes sense, keeps things very organised," Sabo answered absentmindedly.

"Glad you two are becoming interested in our home," Thatch said sincerely.

Sabo nodded, "It's not too bad here."

Ace sighed, "Okay well thanks for helping us I guess. We got to go check on Luffy. Later."

The freckled boy dragged the blond away before he started making small talk. They left the area and ran off in search of Teach's room.

 **AN: Hey! Sorry if this took a while. I am losing track of time, and my classes are a lot more difficult then I first imagined. Anyways~! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Next update will hopefully come faster since now I have an planner to help me manage my time better. Next update should come out in a week or two. Thanks for reading! See you next time Luckies~! ~^-^~**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece.**

* * *

When they left the galley Ace and Sabo expected to go straight towards the living quarters to begin their search. Of course fate had other ideas for them. The two froze as they came face to face with Teach.

"Hello boys," the old pirate said with a grin that put on display his disgusting yellowing teeth.

"What do you want?" Ace said with a snarl.

Teach threw his head back in a laugh that sent shivers down the two brothers' spines. Both boys wanted to run far away from the man before them.

"Just wanted to interact with the newest additions to the crew. Is that so bad?"

"Just leave us alone," Sabo said as he moved to go around the other.

"Why? Everyone else spent time getting to know you three. As a potential older brother, why don't you two walk with me? Where's the smaller one?"

Ace tensed up, "None of your business. Why should we walk with you, you fat ba-"

"Ace shut up," Sabo whispered as he elbowed the other effectively cutting him off. "You're attracting unnecessary attention."

Other pirates near them had stopped and were blatantly staring at the three of them. Teach merely stood with a smile pointed on his face.

"Come on, let's go have ourselves a bonding moment."

Sabo reluctantly stepped forward. Ace shot out his hand to stop him, but was dragged along when his wrist was caught by his brother. No one around them seemed to notice anything odd about the whole interaction between them.

Teach gripped a hand on each of their shoulders as they left the area. Once they arrived at a safe distance away from other pirates in an empty hallway did the older man turn to them. Gone was the smile plastered on his face from moments before and all that was left was a snarl twisting his facial features. His eyes shone with fury; his hands moved from their shoulders to their wrists in a death grip with dull nails digging into their skin. The two brothers squirmed and tried to wiggle free, but the pirate had them cornered.

"You should've never come aboard this ship. You'll jeopardize years of hard work into convincing these pathetic excuse of pirates into trusting me. I'm so close to my intended goal and if you three good for nothing brats get in my way you'll find your year in captivity to be considered a blessing in disguise. One wrong move and I'll personally ensure you never see the light of day again. Am I making myself clear?"

"What? You don't want us to tell everyone about Blackbeard?" Ace hissed.

Teach released the brunet's wrist and gave him a clear smack in the face, knocking him to the floor. His large hand forcibly lifted Ace up again and grabbed the other's wrist once more. Meanwhile, Sabo struggled to break free from the older man's hold. Teach's nails dug deeper and the two brother's could feel their skin begin to break under the pressure.

"Am I clear!?" Teach shouted as spit from his mouth flew at them.

Ace and Sabo froze as fear gripped at their hearts and their eyes widened. Teach face was so close to their's they could feel his breathe as it hit them.

"Y-yes," They both answered softly in unison.

Teach snorted and leaned back a bit, his hands seemingly tightening a little more.

"Good. Don't go telling anyone about our conversation or the idiot you call a brother may befall a terrible accident. Who knows? Maybe you'll learn something from it."

The last they saw of Teach was a grin twisting his expression before he knocked their heads together knocking them out.

* * *

Blue eyes slowly blinked open as Sabo attempted to become aware of his surroundings. Hands were frantically rocking him back and forth. He could hear a voice calling out to him that sounded familiar, yet the blond couldn't quite place exactly who it was.

"-bo!"

Huh? Were they calling him?

"-abo!"

Suddenly, as if a dam broke, the memories from his encounter with Teach flooded his mind. His eyes fully snapped open and he quickly sat up.

"Where's Teach!?"

Ace shrugged as he moved away from his brother standing on his feet, "Who knows? We've been out for a while."

Sabo nodded as he took in their surroundings. The two were in the room they were given to sleep in.

"How did we get back?"

Ace grimaced, "Don't know. I woke up a couple of minutes ago in pain. Pretty sure we missed lunch though."

"Ugh," Sabo's head was pounding and, upon taking a glance down at his wrist, was disgusted to see a dark purple/blue bruise forming in the shape of Teach's arm on his wrist. Nail markings shone with blood on his skin.

¨This sucks,¨ Ace muttered.

Sabo nodded silently; his eyes fixated on his wrist half in fear of the one who put that their and enraged at what Teach had done to both of them.

¨You good?¨ Ace said in concern.

Sabo looked up and sighed, ¨Maybe? My head's killing me though.¨

Ace gave a small grimace as he momentarily focused on his own pain; ¨I know what you mean.¨

¨Ace how are we going to hide our wrists? I mean I got a long sleeved shirt and jacket, but what about you? It's going to seem suspicious if you suddenly start wearing anything beyond your usual clothing.¨

Ace bit his lip in worry, ¨Bandages?¨

Sabo shrugged, ¨The nurses will go berserk if they see any of us injured. Plus Teach is still out there. He might count that as us outing him.¨

¨Well any better ideas? How long does a bruise usually take to heal?¨

¨I don't fully know; 10-14 days?¨

Ace sighed, ¨Then we'll just have to make do. I'ma grab one of your extra long sleeves. Let's go grab Luffy real quick then come back here to...well to think of something.¨

The brunet stood up and began to rummage around his brother's clothing. He pulled out a white one that didn't seem to fancy compared to what the blond usually wore.

¨Ace,¨ Sabo said quietly. ¨You can't come.¨

The brunet stopped and turned to the blond.

¨Why not?¨

¨Your face has a bruise.¨

Ace's face twisted into that of confusion. He lifted his hand and tenderly felt around his skin until he could feel a pinch of pain

¨What? Why?...oh.¨

Sabo nodded and stood up.

¨I'll get Luffy. You wait here.¨

Ace nodded and sat on the bed. The white shirt feel uselessly to the ground.

¨Careful,¨ the brunet warned.

Sabo grinned, ¨Always.¨

* * *

 **Author** ' **s Note: I** ' **m so sorry I have not uploaded recently. I do hope that you enjoy this chapter as now the plot begins to thicken. Note that I have read every review and I just want to say thank you for the support. I hope this chapter makes up for some of the trouble I have caused. Thank you so much for reading and for (hopefully) forgiving me for such a late chapter. See you in the next one Luckies!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece.**

* * *

Ace sat on the only bed in the room that he shared with his brothers after forcefully removing Sabo's shirt in frustration. He felt utterly useless sitting there practically twiddling his thumbs. Ace was so angry with himself for once again failing to protect his two best friends, his brothers, Sabo and Luffy who stood by his side through thick and thin. They became the family he never felt he had, helped him open up a bit more and accept Dandan and her group of bandits...

God, how were they doing now? Did they think the three were dead? What about Makino? That sweet bartender who helped them with more than Ace could ever repay, and Garp? How's he been doing? Has he gone to check on them since? Have any of them been looking around, asking for them? Have the three of them really been forgotten?

Ace's finger twisted around the fabric of the sheets as he resisted the urge to pull out his own hair. What he wouldn't give for a form of a distraction, hopefully one that included his three brother's returning to his side.

A knock on the door startled him out of his thoughts.

A familiar voice called out, "Ace? Are ya in there buddy?"

"Thatch?" Ace responded.

He slowly slid off the bed doing his best not to make a sound.

"Yup! Now this might sound stupid, but I saw Sabo just a while ago and he seemed a bit scared? I figured something was wrong, but he assured me everything was fine. Still just to make sure I came here to see if you were okay."

Ace cleared his throat attempting to speak calmly and clearly through the growing panic.

"I'm fine here, so maybe it was something else?"

"Kid, it's not that I don't believe you, but it would make me feel a whole lot better you let me see for my own eyes," Thatch replied.

"Thatch, I said I'm fine. Don't worry," Ace said despite feeling the exact opposite of fine.

"Ace, ju-"

"I SAID I'M FINE!" Ace shouted as he clenched his fists as his impatience and fear grew.

Ace froze in place his heart beating a mile a minute ready to run or fight his way out of the situation.

"I'm sorry Ace, but **that** sounded like you were **far** from fine. Now I know something is obviously wrong. Whatever it is just let me in and I can help you!"

Ace chuckled darkly, "Look I appreciate the concern. It's more than most have given to Sabo, Luffy, or me, but seriously leave. I swear I'm just go do some commander work or something. I think I heard Marco complaining about some paperwork?"

Thatch sighed and from the other side of the door placed his hand flat against the wood separating him from the child on the other side.

"Ace, I promise whatever is bothering you I'll do what I can to help you. All you need to do is let me in. Not as the fourth division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, but as the man you met on the boat just before our rescue. You trusted me then with Luffy's life, didn't you? Can't you trust me with yours?" Thatch pleaded.

Ace took a deep breath and stepped forward to open the door stopping a few steps away from the knob as his resolve weakened.

"Can you **promise** me you won't tell anyone?" Ace asked taking another step forward.

Thatch dropped his hand, "If it's life threatening..."

"Can you promise me," Ace demanded as he took another step forward to where he could reach the handle.

Thatch bit his lip, cursing himself silently in his head for not be better at situations like this.

"I can try. That's the best I can do Ace."

Ace nodded to himself and opened the door just an inch before quickly making his way back to the bed. Thatch gently pushed the wood open making sure to close the door behind him before assessing the situation. Nothing looked our of the ordinary, so the pirate turned his attention to the child in the room.

Ace's head was bowed and he was clutching the blanket between his fingers.

"Ace," Thatch said softly.

The boy sat still, barely making a sound.

"Ace," Thatch repeated as he took a careful step forward. "Can you please look at me?"

Ace's finger curled up even further before he gradually lifted his head. His hair gave way to reveal a tan face, a sprinkle of freckles, but what really caught his attention was the bruise steadily developing over his face. It looked as though the boy had been smacked, hard.

"God, what happened to you?"

Ace shrugged his shoulders unable to meet the other man's gaze.

"Ace," Thatch said. "Who did this to you?"

Thatch caught the glimpse of panic in the other's gaze before he responded.

"I-I tripped."

Thatch scoffed with a look of disbelief.

"That was some fall to give you that huge bruise."

Ace lifted his hand to gently place it on his cheek, unintentionally bringing attention to his bruised wrist.

"It's not that bad," Ace mumbled.

With an incredulous look, Thatch responded, "God, your wrist too? Hate to break it to you kid, but you look like you got into a fight and lost."

"Wow your confidence in me to hold my own is astounding," Ace drawled hoping to steer the conversation in another direction.

"You know I meant," Thatch snapped before softening his expression. "Who hit you? And don't you dare say you tripped or something as equally stupid. I will interrogate everyone on this entire goddamn ship if I have too."

Ace sighed showing the face of calm despite his innet turmoil, "I don't know what you want me to say. I had a dangerous fall as I brawled with a broomstick."

"That's a load of crap," Thatch muttered. "Ace just tell me who and I promise I'll only have a quick chat with them."

"...It's fine Thatch. Just drop it."

Thatch let out a bark of laughter that sounded too forced even to his own ears.

"No can do. Someone on this ship hurt you, and in good conscience I can't just "drop it." Please just tell me who did this to you."

Ace opened his mouth ready to argue, but the door opening cut him off. Sabo and Luffy shuffled in, gently closing the door behind them.

"We heard the last of that Thatch. If we tell you nobody else needs to know right?" Sabo asked.

The pirate grimaced, "Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way."

Sabo shrugged his shoulders, "Unfortunately, we can't tell you."

"It was Teach," Luffy interrupted before Thatch could say another word.

Silence followed as everyone was frozen in place at the information. Luffy's brown eyes usually lively with excitement were hooded by the straw hat on his head. His small hands were clenched into fists and in that one moment Luffy looked far older than his eight years.

Suddenly, Ace lunged at Luffy intent to rip him a new one for speaking out. Thatch managed to catch him just in time while Sabo smacked Luffy upside the head.

"LUFFY WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU!" Ace roared while pushing and shoving Thatch.

"Ace," Thatch grunted. "Will you please **calm down**."

The two struggled for a bit before the older male managed to get an arm wrapped around Ace pinning his hands to his sides as he sat him on his lap while clapping his free hand over the younger's mouth to stop the stream of profanities that would make a sailor blush. Everyone waited for Ace to calm down a bit. When that succeeded Thatch turned to the other two.

"Teach? Are you sure? Why would he do something like this?" Thatch demanded.

Sabo sighed before he nodded, slipping his hand in his younger brothers for support.

"We're absolutely positive it was Teach. As for the um reason, well its uh sorta long." Sabo said nervously.

"I'm all ears," Thatch responded as his gaze switched from back and forth between the children.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**  
 **Hi~! I have started on the next chapter just need one quick question that I need answered. Would you guys want some form of back story on the three brothers mixed into the next chapter, as a bonus chapter, or in a one shot? Please tell me what you think about the story/an answer to the question/maybe even a question of your own in the reviews or private message me~! Thank you and I hope you enjoyed this chapter~! Until next time Luckies~!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece.**

 _Italics_ **is a flashback!**

* * *

"Um," Sabo began slowly as he worked out how to explain what exactly was happening.

"He was there the we were captured," Ace confessed as he pushed Thatch's wrist away in order to speak.

"He was there?" Thatch echoed.

"Yea," Luffy mumbled with this look of fear in his normally bright eyes that pained his two brother and the commander to see.

Ace gently removed himself from the pirate's lap to stand by his two brother's providing support and comfort the only way he knew how. All three now stood side by side holding each other. The image that the commander previously had built into his head of the three trouble makers before him who stood strong in the face of life with impossibly wide grins seemed to crack to remind him that they were children, young and frightened, dealing with shattered realities beyond them when only a year ago they were children playing games among themselves.

"Why was Teach there?" Thatch coaxed.

"Blackbeard," Luffy corrected.

Upon Thatch's puzzled expression Sabo elaborated, "His name, as far as we know, is Blackbeard...at least that's how we have come to know him."

"Okay, why was Blackbeard there?" Thatch reiterated.

"Trade system," Ace sneered.

"There's a lot of poor on the island who live in this trash dump just outside the town where the the reside," Sabo explained.

"No one cares about them so bad people like Blackbeard can come in and do whatever they want," Luffy added.

Ace nodded, "We, just like others from the area, were captured and taken on a ship."

* * *

 _"Ace, come on, I think we should head back," Sabo suggested._

 _Ace sighed before looking around at the heaps of trash surrounding them._

 _"We can't leave now! A new shipment of trash arrived yesterday. There is literally no better time then right now to gather new equipment for the tree house or new pipes and stuff."_

 _"I think Sabo is right," Luffy admitted._

 _"You picking sides now?" Ace dared._

 _Luffy shrugged his shoulders before picking his nose and flicking the booger straight for Ace, "Maybe."_

 _Ace wrinkled his nose in disgust before growling, "You littl-"_

 _"Enough!" Sabo commanded._

 _Ace huffed in frustration before glaring at Luffy and his shit eating grin. Sabo's lips quirked up in a smile before his schooled his facial expression._

 _"Okay two against one. Let's go back," Sabo announced._

 _Ace sighed momentarily forgetting what they where originally arguing about in favor of ways he was going to make Luffy regret throwing a booger at him. He followed his two brothers down the path that would lead them home before he froze mid-step._

 _"Hold up! I still think we should stay here for a bit longer." Ace demanded. "We need new pipes and we could hang around to test them when we find some."_

 _"Ace," Sabo chided. "What about Dandan and the others? They'll worry."_

 _Ace snorted, "Since when has that old hag cared about what we did?"_

 _Sabo gave him a disappointed look and Ace sighed, "Just listen to me for a second. We'll stay until the sun goes down. Then we'll go back and stargaze or something."_

 _A conflicted look passed over blue eyes and Ace knew he had Sabo hooked with the promise of stargazing. The blond has always been a nerd like that._

 _"Hey! What about me?" Luffy whined knowing exactly what kind of tricks Ace was using.  
_

 _Ace shrugged, "I'll give you half of my meat during breakfast tomorrow."_

 _Stars seemed to make up Luffy's eyes and Ace grimaced just looking at them while Sabo sighed dejectedly._

 _"Fine we can stay, but only until the sun goes down," Sabo countered._

 _Ace grinned triumphantly before heading off into the direction of the town where most of the fun was located with his two brothers not too far behind._

 _It wasn't until much later that trouble arrived in the form of pirates at the docks. News of this spread among the people fairly quickly and, after an hour or two, everyone had heard including the three brothers. At this point, people where rushing around to get into some sort of hiding causing all sorts of nerves to arise for Sabo and Ace. Luffy, on the other hand, was ecstatic and wanted to greet the pirates. Sabo and Ace weren't as convinced of the good nature of the visitors as Luffy was._

 _"We should probably go back," Sabo said grabbing his two brothers by the shoulders. Ace nodded and made his way to head in the direction of the woods on the mountain where their home was located._

 _"Wha? But I want to go see pirates!" Luffy exclaimed. "Ace got to decide we would stay so why can't I? The sun hasn't gone down yet!"_

 _A nearby woman ushering her two kids home heard him and spoke up._

 _"I wouldn't suggest it kid. I heard these are real crooks that done inexplicable things. The lot of you better go find somewhere to hide."_

 _"Of course ma'am. Thank you," Sabo said with a small bow before turning to Luffy._ _"See, it's not right for us to stay. Let's go back before we get into more trouble than it's worth."_

 _Luffy groaned out his disapproval before begrudgingly following the older two back to the forest. On the way there Sabo and Ace were both on alert. Typically with a new trash dump added people would be searching through it looking for something new, but the there was no one around. Everything seemed still like the calm before the storm._

 _Suddenly, explosions started happening on the far side of town particularly where the docks were located. Screams could be heard in the distance and the three brothers took off in a sprint. Unfortunately, they were still close to town center leaving a large distance between them and the trees. The fire was spreading rapidly as it was fueled by the trash heaps. People appeared seemingly from nowhere rushing around in complete panic as thick black puffs of smoke filled the air. A group of large burly men appeared grabbing people as they went, tying them up with rope, chains, and whatever else they could get their hands on._

 _One man stood above the rest looking upon the chaos with a large gleeful smile stretching open to reveal large white teeth with empty slots. He had thick curly black hair that extended past his shoulders and a black beard extending from ear to ear covering his chin. The man wore all kinds of jewelry over himself ranging from white beaded necklaces to shiny metal rings covering thick fingers. A black coat was wrapped around his frame merely adding to his already intimidating stature. In his right hand was a golden gun glinting under the combined light of the setting sun and fires still blazing around. He raised the hand holding the weapon pointing the muzzle towards the sky and fired two shots._

 _Surrounding people including the three brothers ducked while others screamed out in fear. Sabo looked around from some way to hide when he spotted old broken chairs nearby and made a split second decision. He grabbed Ace and Luffy by their shoulders, dragging them along to the furniture. The three made themselves as small as possible to fit as they peaked over at the pirate still standing with his ever present grin. He cleared his throat and called for attention which had everyone silent._

 _"Today is your lucky day!" the pirate started as his voice seemed to almost echo for everyone to hear. "There is no need for the running and screaming. It will do you no good, might even bring you harm. All of you have won a one way ticket to service for the great elites of the world! Your miserable pathetic lives will finally have some value to them as slaves for the rich! Rejoice! You're not useless after all! Although, be warned if you refuse you will be made an example of! Bwahahahahaha!"_

 _As though someone had pressed play people were screaming and running around as more explosions rang out. Pirates grabbed people, dragging them away kicking and screaming. Before the brother's could make their own escape amidst the confusion , two pairs of arms hauled them up by their waists. The three began to kick, bite, and claw at whatever they could reach. They were quickly forced into the open before Ace managed to strike a lucky hit to one of the pirate's groins. That forced the man to drop Ace and the ten year old attacked the other man holding his two brothers. They managed to get away and turned to make a run for it, but they were soon surrounded. They were tied up with rope and dragged along the ground in the direction of the docks where they would put on a trade boat that would take them far from Dawn Island, the only place they considered home._

* * *

Thatch frowned a bit skeptical as he was still finding it difficult to believe that Marshall D. Teach would do such a thing.

"Why would he do such a thing though? That's the man I know. Are you sure you saw Teach."

"Of course we're sure! Do you think we're lying!? He has you all fooled!" Ace shouted.

"Look I didn't say that," Thatch defended. "It's just a lot to take in at once considering he was a part of the crew at that time you claim that this happened. He joined us a couple of years ago."

"You sure implied it," Ace muttered angrily only stopping from further arguing when Sabo shot him a look.

"We understand," Sabo stated blankly. "It's just hard to talk about this. It's easier to repress what happened and keep it to ourselves then to share our thoughts. You said Teach was already part of the crew?"

"Yes," Thatch said tentatively.

"Is there any records of missions he went on for a while what happened to us took at least three weeks to organize and execute. That should count for something, right?" Sabo questioned.

Thatch nodded, "As a second division member he only goes on mission with a small part of the crew. Solo missions are mostly granted to commanders which he obviously isn't. Getting those documents might be a problem though."

"Why?" Luffy asked with a tilt of his head.

"Well we don't have a second division commander, those duties fall onto Marco. That means he has what we need if we're lucky. However, I don't think he's just going to hand them to us, not without having a good reason."

They all stayed silent before Ace spoke up.

"Why don't we just ask Teach?"

"Ace is stupid," Luffy bluntly stated.

Ace's eyes narrowed angrily and just before the two could start fighting Sabo interjected.

"How exactly are we supposed to do that? It's not like he'll just tell Thatch all of his secrets if he gently persuades him."

Ace shrugged, "I could do it. He'll get made at me, but at least it'll be worth it."

"No," Luffy whined. "I want to do it! He already hit you and no one messes with my brothers!"

"What?" Ace and Sabo glared. "No, never!"

"Stay away from him Luffy," Sabo said.

"But I want to help!"

"Well you can't! You're just a little kid!" Ace argued while Sabo nodded in agreement.

"Well so are you!"

"But I'm older and you haven't hit your double digits!"

"So? It doesn't matter! Ace is stupid!"

Ace's fists clenched as his anger rose.

"Oh I'm stupid? What about Sabo? He agrees with me!"

"Oh don't bring me into this!" Sabo protested.

"Tell Luffy that he can't go!"

"No! Sabo tell Ace that I can go!"

"Guys, seriously calm down this is getting out of hand!"

"Shut up Sabo," Ace and Luffy said in unison while glaring daggers at each other.

"What do you mean shut up!? You both were asking me to speak a minute ago!"

"ENOUGH!" Thatch shouted over the arguing.

All three immediately quieted not wanting to anger the older man.

"How about instead of one of you three brats I go talk to Teach?" Thatch offered.

"No," Ace objected. "This should be something we deal with."

Thatch frowned, "I appreciate the sentiment, but if I do it I can determine for myself if he's lying. That's the whole point of this right?"

"..."

"He already harmed you three enough to last a lifetime, " Thatch coaxed. "If I do this there is less chance of something going horribly wrong."

"Fine," Sabo sighed. "You'll go. It's safer for all of us. Just be careful."

"Sabo!" Ace grumbled under his breath just loud enough for the blond to hear.

"Ace, we have to let him help. It's kind of our only option." Sabo mumbled. "It's for the best."

"Ugh, fine," Ace heaved a sigh. "Thatch you can go."

Luffy pouted and Thatch ruffled his hair.

Thatch grinned, "All right. I'll go right now to see if I can go get supplies for your bruises and maybe some food."

The three brothers nodded and Thatch left. They stood staring at each other for a minute or two before Ace started seeing black spots appear in his vision. He collapsed with a snore already making its way up his throat. Luffy giggled while Sabo sighed and began the process of moving his brother onto the bed.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Finally finished another chapter! Thank you to everyone who commented on this story so far. I'm glad people are enjoying this. As a bit of a side note, I mentioned a class in an earlier chapter that was kicking my butt and I am proud to say I passed the semester with an A! Moving on to a couple more and I just hope I pass those too. Thank you all for reading! Please favorite, follow, and comment (or pm me). Until next time Luckies!**


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